Trending Tech: Are Curves the Future?

26 September 2013 by Emma Blunt

International news websites were awash yesterday with an announcement from Samsung which is set to launch a smartphone with a curved display in October. Is this a future trend or a tech dead end? Let’s take a look…

DJ Lee, Samsung’s head of strategic marketing, has announced the company’s plans to introduce a device with a curved display in South Korea this October. They have already showcased a prototype of a device with a wrap-around display following on from the launch of their curved Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) television. It will be interesting to see whether a functional model can be achieved and whether it’s possible to mass produce this kind of flexible technology in a cost-effective way.

Samsung seems to be favouring OLED display technology, which uses light-emitting organic materials to create displays. OLEDs are very thin and can be put onto flexible material to give the displays curves in all the right places. It is important to clarify that the mobile device Samsung plans to launch won’t be malleable so customers won’t be able to bend or fold it. However, there’s a real sense that this is the way that technology is heading.

We recently posted a blog about Graphene, the incredibly versatile material discovered in Manchester that is extremely light but possesses the strength to support the weight of a grand piano. Researchers at Cambridge University are working hard to find new ways to transform the huge potential of Graphene into something useable; something that could revolutionise technology and even give us the devices we’re dreaming of that we can fold and bend.

For now, the curved display might not appear to have many obvious benefits but it is, nevertheless, an exciting advancement and a step in the right direction.